


fortune favours the broken

by dupesoclock



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Drinking, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Formalwear, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:40:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26933002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dupesoclock/pseuds/dupesoclock
Summary: Loba was pretty in any lighting, but the moonlight seemed to make her look almost divine, the light catching off of the many crystals that littered her dark red dress, lighting up the velvet as it pooled around her feet, like the blood she spilled and shed so often in the arena that she had made her home, but in a way that was… befitting of her grace.He didn’t say anything to her, watching her take a slow drink from her flute of champagne, staining the glass with the maroon lipstick she wore so well, dark hair cascading down her shoulders.In fact, it was she that saw him, and spoke, and he knew the smile that played at her lips as she sparked a conversation. “Too much?”“Ya.”“Need a drink?”“Please.”--Taejoon was never one for big gatherings, and surprisingly, Loba wasn't either.
Relationships: Loba Andrade/Crypto | Park Tae Joon
Kudos: 7





	fortune favours the broken

**Author's Note:**

> apex rarepair week is done! im so happy i managed to pull through, even if I stumbled with the late uploads at the end there. thank you all for following along with me!
> 
> wanted to use the free day to wrap around back to how I started the week, bookending the cryptloba angst with cryptloba fluff, and fulfilling my need for fancy dress and formal bullshit. we are VIBING and I am bisexual.
> 
> tumblr mirror [here](https://dupesoclock.tumblr.com/post/631614777407537152/fortune-favours-the-broken), please consider supporting me there with a reblog and also here with kudos and comments if you enjoyed. thank you, stay safe, and don’t forget to love each other! ❤️

At the end of every season, officials held a big formal event to celebrate the achievements of the legends, and to flaunt how much money they had. Crypto never really cared for it; too loud, too many variables to consider, too high of a risk for him to get caught. But somehow, every time, he was roped into it. And somehow, he surely couldn’t imagine why, he always hated it.

It was Rampart this time. The newest legend was all too excited, blinded by the lights and the flashy formalities that came with her golden card into the games, up to her neck in the wealth but seeming to never lose her… less-than-grateful charm that he almost enjoyed, if not for her pushiness to get him involved in the antics. But he would humour her. He’d humoured Mirage when he got here, then Wattson the season after, and then finally Loba, the newest legend before the younger Brit had arrived, who offered her hand to dance with him in one corner of the ballroom that night, despite everything that had happened that caused a strain between a once-tight group. (He should have blamed her, he should, but he took her hand and danced with her that night, and to say that he had fallen for her charms - not the charms of Loba, the thief, but Loba Andrade, the woman who had cared to check on him after the ghost was no longer broken - was an understated fact.)

But, as always, things soon took a turn for the worst, even more so than before. Rampart and Mirage had begun arguing over something or other, Octane had caused chaos in the bathrooms (he didn’t even want to know about that), there was a commotion with the reporters that had arrived for an exclusive scoop that he hadn’t managed to catch, and all the while he had remained in one corner, a glass of wine in hand, and unlike any party before, no one had dragged him to dance. ...Well, no one like before, anyways, when he was just as isolated. Crypto stole a glance around - where was the thief anyway? He was sure he’d seen her earlier that night, arriving arm and arm with the rest of the female legends, absolutely stealing the show with her glamour and charm. But now, among the atmosphere of tension and animosity as the cracks and strains had begun to show between business partners - no, between  _ friends _ \- she’d disappeared into the night, as was in her job description.

“Ah, Mr. Kim?” An unfamiliar voice snapped him out of his search, if only momentarily, as he looked down to the rather short, bespeckled man, in a tatty denim jacket and a hastily put-on tie, wielding a notebook. “Apologies, I’m sure you’re enjoying yourself here… on your own… but I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn’t mind.”

And of course, he too wasn’t immune to harassment by the press. He was disappointed, but not in the least bit surprised.

The questions were just as invasive as he expected, though the reporter was nervous and stuttering over his words, staring down at his notebook in surprise at some of the things coming out of his mouth from a script, so there was some sympathy there. He was just trying to get by, working the grift, as it were - had he still had his old life, Crypto would have inclined to offer more sympathy in solidarity, but this was just pathetic.

He eventually had to excuse himself, getting more and more paranoid as the kid pressed on, quickly apologising before weaving his way through the crowd, where people got too close and for a moment he caught his breath as he felt them almost grab at him - but surely he was just imagining things, imagining his nightmares. Right? ...Right?

The hacker pushed open the door with one hand, dragging his hand down his face as he did. He needed air, needed space. The hacker loosened the tie around his neck, no longer used to wearing them day in and day out as he had done before, in what seemed like a life so distant to him now, popping a button before heading to the balcony, a tall figure already standing there catching his eye.

Loba was pretty in any lighting, but the moonlight seemed to make her look almost divine, the light catching off of the many crystals that littered her dark red dress, lighting up the velvet as it pooled around her feet, like the blood she spilled and shed so often in the arena that she had made her home, but in a way that was… befitting of her grace. 

He didn’t say anything to her, watching her take a slow drink from her flute of champagne, staining the glass with the maroon lipstick she wore so well, dark hair cascading down her shoulders.

In fact, it was she that saw him, and spoke, and he knew the smile that played at her lips as she sparked a conversation. “Too much?”

“Ya.”

“Need a drink?”

“Please.”

Loba chuckled, handing over her half empty flute for him to take a sip out of, the fingers brushing as the glass was exchanged. She folded her arms against the railing. “Though I must say, the look suits you. Very dashing.”

He almost choked as he drank, quickly pulling the glass away from his lips and covering his mouth with the side of his fist, patting his chest with it to force the champagne down, only making her laugh a little more - it was like music, that laugh of hers, though she took far too much pleasure in embarrassing him, even when they were alone. Crypto quickly passed the glass back, which she took delicately in her hand.

“...It was the reporters,” Loba told him, after a few beats of silence, the two of them listened to the sounds of the night, and the quiet muffled noises of the party just behind them. 

He glanced at her, thinking back to the commotion in the room. So that’s where she’d been. “You too?”

“They had the… the  _ gaul  _ to ask about my parents, and my relationship with that…  _ demonio _ . The way he claws his way under my skin, and the way they just… eat it up, everything he’s done to me, for years, the calatorals and the nightmare. I just…” She huffed, holding her flute of champagne and twirling it a few times, lips curling a little as she scoffed. “ _ Odio este lugar. _ ”

He paused, watching as she tilted her head back, how her soft lips took the wine in from the glass in a single drink before bringing it back down again. He leaned in closer to her, and lowered his voice. “ _ Daleun delo gaja. _ ”

Loba paused, and looked over to him, and for a moment, she seemed grateful.“...Sí.”

Crypto tried his best to hold back his sigh of relief, as she looked up to him, her face softening as she put her now empty wine glass on the side of the balcony, and held her hand out to him. Her nails were perfect, rings and her signature bracelet sparkling in the moonlight of the outside, and her skin was soft as he gently took her hand, gently running a thumb over her knuckles. And, after glancing at the many glass doors of the party on the inside, he dared to kiss the back of her hand, to which she chuckled.

“My, so old fashioned.”

“Nothing wrong with the classics.” He looked up to her through his eyelashes, finding himself almost smirking at the banter as he stood up again, never letting go of her hand, though feeling it flip in his light grip to hold onto his in return.

They shared a silent moment of serenity on the balcony together, peace from the expectations of the masses and the responsibilities on their shoulders as Apex Legends, as Loba moved in to rest her head against his shoulder, gently swaying as she took hold of his other hand. Crypto soon obliged, smiling to himself a little as they shared a solitary dance in the back of the moonlight and stars.

Crypto left the party first - no one would object to that, seeing him head out of the front door to catch a taxi back to the dropship. No one had seen Loba leave, but they didn’t pay it much mind - the girl had her buttons pushed, she needed her space. The cover they provided was perfect, as they met again in a park somewhat close but still far enough away from the gala that no one would find them, sitting side by side on a lonely bench, highlighted by a moonbeam. How poetic.

The thief twirled her keys around her finger for a moment, before sticking it into the cork guarding the top of the bottle of wine they were about to share, popping it open and pouring it into the plastic, disposable cup Crypto held, before pouring her own, and putting the bottle down on the floor beside her feet, ready for another top-up. “How romantic.”

“Isn’t it just?” He held his cup up to her in a toast, to which she accepted, the two of them giggling a little at the anticlimactic clunk of plastic before taking a drink.

They shared the silence for a moment, before Loba rested her head against his shoulder again, as she had done at the party, putting her free hand against his leg, smirking to himself as he tensed a little, though her expression soon softened as he did, resting his head against hers. She closed her eyes. “One day, I’ll be able to tell the world just how great of a man Taejoon Park is.”

“And what will you do?”

“I’ll scream it at the top of my lungs, at every chance I get.”

“We can only dream.” He moved his head to take a drink without spilling it on his shirt, sighing in an almost resigned way, before he resumed his position. “I’m tired of hiding.”

“I know,  _ amor _ . I know.” Loba patted her hand against his leg, feeling her take hold of it and pull it off, interlocking her fingers between the gaps in hers. She moved her head to look at him, the moonlight casting a shadow over his tired eyes. Balancing the plastic cup of wine against the edge of the bench, the thief moved her hand to hold his face, gentle in the way she cupped his cheek as she moved in to share a soft kiss. And, perhaps pushed by the alcohol in his system, he didn’t bother to hesitate in case anyone was watching, returning the kiss and even smiling between pauses to catch his breath, face littered with lipstick kisses by the time they were done.

They ended up finishing their bottle that night, each other’s company far better than the fancy gala and jewels and riches that came with their profession. Yes… solitude would do, for now, until they were finally free to tell the world exactly who they were.

**Author's Note:**

> a small translation for that section on the balcony (I hope I got this right aaaa)  
> Loba: ”I hate this place”  
> Crypto: "Let’s go somewhere else.”  
> Loba: “...Yes.”


End file.
